Indicator.



PATENTED JUNE 30,1903. 1'. J. MOGRATH.

INDICATOR.

APPLIGATION FILED JULY 30, 1902.

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No. 732,580. PATENTED'JUNE30,1903..- T. J. MoGRAT H.

INDICATOR.

, APPLIOATION FILED JULY 30, 1902. no MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Rio. 732,580.-

UNITED STATES Patented June 30, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS J. MCGRATH, OF PORTLAND, OREGON, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JOHN. ELMQUIST, OF PORTLAND, OREGON.

INDICATOR.

SPECIFICATIONforming part of Letters Patent No. 732,580, dated June 30, 1903.

Application filed July 30, 1902. Serial No. 117,704. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS J. MCGRATH, a citizen of the United'States of America, and a resident of Portland, in the county of Multnomah and State of Oregon, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Indicators, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to certaiunew and useful improvements in indicators for offices,

hotels, and similar places; and the object of myinvention is to provide anindicator which shall be capable of indicating whether or not the occupant of any room in the building is in. To accomplish this, I employ a cabinet having a row of indicators for each floor in the building, and each row has an indicator for each office on its floor. The indicators are each provided with a slide, and by moving this slide the tenant or occupant of any room may indicate as he leaves the building that he is out, and when he returns it is only necessary to move the slide in the opposite direction. as he enters the building to indicate to any callers that he is in.

My invention therefore consists of an indicator having these general characteristics, as will now be more particularly described in detail and then definitely set forth by the claims at the end hereof.

In the drawings accompanying and forming a part of this application, Figure 1 is an elevation of a cabinet having four rows of slides thereon arranged for a four-story building. Fig. 2 is an elevation of one of the indicators detached. Fig. 3 is a vertical centralsection of the same. Fig. A is a perspective view of one of the slides detached. Fig. 5 is an elevation showing the same style of slide, but with a difierent name-plate. Figs. 6 and 7 are views of a modified form.

Referring now to the details of the drawings by numerals, 1 indicates a cabinet divided to indicate or represent four floors of-a building, the rows being labeled lst floor, 2nd floor, 850., as shown at 2 inFig. 1. Each of these rows has a number of indicators A fastened thereon by screws 5, the number of indicators in each row corresponding to the number of rooms on the floor which said row represents. These indicators are preferably struck up from sheet metal, so

as to have beveled edges 6, which form or leave a recess between the front plate 7 and the surface to which the indicator is secured. At the lower part the front plate is slit horizontally, as indicated at 8,*and the metal below the slit is bent rearwardly by a suitable 7 die to afford room for a slide 10 to moveup and down. The slide 10 isshown in perspective in Fig. 4, and from this view it will be seen that it is shaped to pass upward through the slit 8, and its lower end is provided with a flange 11 to prevent it from entering too far. The upper end of the slide passes through an opening formed by a strip 12, soldered to the rear of the front face7, and is peculiarly formed,in that it has a rearwardly-bent flange 13 to coact with the strip 12 to prevent the' frictional efiec-t also prevent the letteringon the slide and the plate behind the slide from being scratched as one part slides over the other. a

The slides 10' are each marked In, as plainly seen-on the drawings, and the plate behind the slide is marked Out, so that when the slide is pulled down in the position shown in Fig. 2 it will indicate that the occupant of the room represented by this particular slide is in, and when the slide is shoved up the word In disappears and the word Out is uncovered. Of course the word Out may be placed on the slide, if desired, and in the event of one tenant occupying a suite of rooms the word Private may be used.

Above the slide about the center of the indicator I employ two grooved strips 15, which are secured to the face-plate in any desired manner, and these strips are adapted to receive a card on which the name of the occupant of the room is printed. Above the name-strips is painted a number, as 11, to indicate the numberof the room. Instead of using the strips 15, however, the name may be painted directly on the slide, together with the occupation of the tenant, as seen in Fig. 5.

Instead of forming the slide as shown in Figs. 2 to 5 I may form it as shown in Figs. 6 and 7, in which the slide 18 is formed with two lugs 19 and 20, which are the equivalent of the flange 13, and between these lugs the metal is bent forwardly at 22 to create friction to hold the slide in the desired position. In this case the strip 21 is placed lower down.

My invention is so simple that it is believed unnecessary to give any detailed statement of its operation, as such is evident from the drawings when read in connection with the foregoing description.

I may state that I am of course aware that indicators for similar purposes are old and that many different styles have heretofore been proposed, and I therefore do not claim such broadly.

What I claim as new is- 1. In an indicator,acabinet containing arow of indicators for each floor of a building, each indicator comprising an individual plate having an indented portion therein and provided with a slit or slot near the upper edge of said indented portion, and a slide located in said indented portion and movable through said slit or slot behind the plate, said plate hiding the slide when the latter is moved through the slit or slot, and said slide having a bandle projecting from the indented portion, substantially as described.

2. An indicator comprising a plate having an indented portion in its face and provided with a slit or slot near the upper edge of said indented portion, and a slide located in said indented portion and movable through said slit or slot behind the plate to hide it from view, said slide having a flange or lug on one end to prevent its withdrawal and a handle near the other end projecting outward from said indented portion whereby said slide cannot be pushed too far through said slit 01 slot, substantially as described.

3. An indicator comprising a plate struck up so as to have a recess underit, an indented portion in its face and provided with a slit or slot at one side of said indented portion, and a slide located in said indented portion and movable through said slit or slot, said plate hiding the slide when the latter is moved through the slit or slot and said slide having a handle projecting outward from the indented portion and preventing its withdrawal, substantially as described.

t. An indicator comprising a plate struck up so as to have a recess behind it and an indented portion in its face and provided with means for holding a card thereon, said plate also having a slit or slot at the one side of said indented portion; and a slide located in said indented portion and movable through said slit or slot behind the plate, said plate hiding the slide when the latter is moved through the slit or slot, and said parts being formed to create friction between the slide and plate for holding said slide in position; substantially as described.

Signed by me at Portland, Oregon, this 18th day of July, 1902.

TI'IOS. J. MCGRATII.

Witnesses:

P. J. MAHER, .T. 13. OFNER. 

